Moree Secondary College girls rugby union team created history earlier this month by being the first team from the school to compete at a Combined High Schools (CHS) state final in any sport.
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The team competed against a number of well-known sporting schools in the NSW CHS open girls rugby union 7s state championships at Parramatta on Wednesday, August 10.
Their first game against Chifley College was very close with MSC using their speed to overcome the bigger Chifley team out wide but a late try to Chifley saw MSC defeated just before the bell losing 15-12.
Game two against Hunter Sports High again saw MSC jump out to a lead with a number of tries, only to be rundown late into the second half and face another narrow lost.
Coach Karen Tighe said it was encouraging for the girls to play against such a quality side as Hunter Sports High moved to the finals to play eventual winners Warialda High School.
Game three against Tumut High School saw the girls struggle with the concept of the game during the breakdowns and a few limited opportunities to put more points on the board with another defeat.
After lunch MSC finally embraced the free flowing running game and had wins over Brisbane Waters College and Davidson High School to win a respectful two out five games for their pool, finishing seventh overall.
“This is an achievement that must be respected and will lay the foundation for future MSC teams to build on and gave many of the girls a rewarding experience to play sport at a state level for their school,” Mrs Tighe said.
“The MSC girls stood tall competing against such well-known sporting schools as many of the girls had played in less than three games of rugby union with the exception of MSC captain and NSW Country women’s player Ashley Walker who led by example all day.
“MSC improved in each game and impressed NSW Rugby with their lineouts, sportsmanship and talent as some of the girls were identified by the Talent Development Team coaches. This would not be possible if they didn’t take this opportunity to play at this level.”
The team is already looking forward to building on this year’s team with seven out the 12 team members returning in 2017 and encouraging others to join.
Rugby union had a high profile in the Moree High schools in the 1990s with a number of local North West representative players, regional champion teams, and even players touring nationally with NSW CHS teams or overseas with the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team touring China, Hong Kong, South Africa and New Zealand.
Some of Moree’s rugby union players who were products of these school programs included Scott Arthur, Van Humphries, Damien Kelly, Jason Campbell, Alex Barker, Alfred Duncan, Dallas Brown, Lincoln Peckham, William Beale, Marshall Barker and Cecil Craigie to name a few. Rod Tighe was a Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team coach who toured New Zealand.
“We need to continue to offer rugby union to all students,” Mrs Tighe said.
“With the recent win of the Australian Women 7s Olympic team in Rio and the different format of Rugby 7s, VIVA7s, 15s and 9s shows that there is a game for everyone.
“Local players like Ashley Walker playing for NSW Country shows that there is talent in Moree and we need to encourage these students to dream big and make the most of any given opportunities.”
